The present invention relates generally to solder-bearing components, such as devices used for joining electronic components to one another, electrical leads, terminals, electromagnetic shields, and furthermore, to a method for retaining a solder mass in such solder-bearing components.
It is often necessary and desirable to electrically connect one component to another component. For example, a multi-terminal component, such as a connector, is often electrically connected to a substrate, such as a printed circuit board, so that the contacts or terminals of the component are securely attached to contact pads formed on the substrate to provide an electrical connection therebetween. One preferred technique for securely attaching the component terminals to the contact pads is to use a solder material.
In the electronic equipment industry, an important necessity is the rapid and accurate assembly of leads, terminals and contacts with contact pads of printed circuit boards (PCB) and other substrates. For convenience of connecting such elements, it has previously been disclosed to facilitate the soldering of their connection by securing a solder slug or mass to one of the elements so that, when positioned in engagement with the other element and heated, the molten solder will cover the adjacent surfaces of both elements to form when cooled a solder joint providing both a mechanical coupling and an electrical connection between the elements.
One disadvantage of using solder masses is that the solder masses first have to be formed to have the proper dimensions and then the solder masses have to be coupled to solder-holding elements (e.g., solder clips) before the solder reflow operation is performed. In the case where the solder-holding elements are in the form of a series of claw-like structures formed as part of clips that are spaced along a carrier strip, the claw-like structures are first formed by bending portions of the clip and then one solder mass has to be disposed within one claw-like structure. This can be a time consuming task.
However, what is needed as an alternative method of holding a solder mass on a solder-bearing device such that the solder mass is securely held by the solder-bearing device; however, the method should be neither overly complex nor time consuming.
A method of securely retaining a solder mass within a solder-bearing component is provided. The method includes the steps of: (a) forming a plurality of fingers in the solder-bearing component at an edge thereof, wherein each finger is defined by a pair of slots and (b) interleaving a solder mass between the fingers such that the solder mass is securely held by the fingers. According to one embodiment, the step of interleaving the solder mass includes the steps of (a) bending a first set of fingers in a first direction; (b) bending a second set of fingers in a second direction, thereby forming a channel between the bent first and second sets of fingers; (c) disposing the solder mass within the channel; and (d) bending the first set of fingers in the opposite second direction and bending the second set of fingers in the opposite first direction so as to cause the solder mass to become interleaved between the first and second set of fingers.
This method of interleaving the solder mass at one edge of the solder-bearing component provides an effective yet easy manner of securely retaining the solder mass before and during a connection operation where the solder-bearing component is connected to another member, such as a substrate, e.g., a printed circuit board or where the solder-bearing component is used in another manner.
The solder-bearing component can be in the form of many of the traditional components that are configured to hold a solder mass. For example, the solder-bearing component can be an electrical lead, a terminal connected to an electrical device, a connector for electrically connected first and second electrical devices, a clip, an electromagnetic shield, etc. In sum, the present method is applicable to a number of applications where a solder mass is held and securely retained in an device for providing an electrical and mechanical connection upon solder reflow.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.